Troublemakers School is coming to Detroit
by Jane Slaughter
Register here and join your fellow troublemakers November 20!
Hate your bosses? Do they seem to hate you?
Or can you tell it’s not a personality but the system that’s making your work-life miserable/boring/underpaid/overworked?
Want to find out what to do about it — together with your co-workers (no white knights here)?
Dozens of Detroit DSAers will attend the Labor Notes Troublemakers School, co-sponsored with the AAUP union at Wayne State, on November 20. They’ll be joined by nurses, electricians, teachers, clerical workers, bus drivers, campus workers of all kinds, auto workers, union staffers, postal workers, library aides, to name some of the groups and individuals who have early-registered.
A Troublemakers School is a local union education conference with workshops that teach practical organizing skills and feature inspiring speakers from recent struggles. Many of our members are on the planning committee. We have invited a striker from Kellogg’s and a leader of Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD, the reform movement in the UAW). People are coming from Indiana, Allegan, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Flint.
There’ll be a workshop that features non-union restaurant workers who have managed to win gains, including during the pandemic. There’ll be one on how to win a good union contract and one on “Race and Labor.” The agenda is here.
Here’s what two of our members wrote about a previous Detroit Troublemakers School.
Stepping back, why do we even care about organizing in the workplace? Our November 13 chapter meeting will include a segment on “Why Get a Union Job?” Organizing workers as workers is a key part of DSA’s strategy for socialism. Not to mention, while you’re doing it, it feels great to kick ass.
As a DSA pamphlet says, “It’s not just that we need more socialists; we also need them in the right places. That means more respected leaders and organizers throughout all sectors of the multiracial working class, capable of moving people to action.
“In previous eras socialists were often respected workplace leaders. That is much less common today. The left often finds itself on the outside looking in when workplace struggle erupts. Socialists are more likely to be organizing strike support than leading strikes.
“This divide has weakened both workers’ movements and the left. The socialist movement is stronger when tied to workers’ movements, and vice versa. Rebuilding the link between them is key to revitalizing both.
“We need to help create a ‘sea of class struggle for socialists to swim in.’ To do this we connect with workplace leaders, those who do the day-to-day organizing. Socialists can both learn from these leaders and help make the connections that let them know they are part of something bigger — not just a union, but a working class — that is capable of fighting, winning, and ultimately ruling. We want to create the conditions where fighting for a socialist future makes sense to ever larger groups of workers.”
Here’s what some Detroit DSA members say about why they’ve registered for the Troublemakers School:
“I am looking to gain strategies to defeat the ‘business union’ leadership style that plagues our district, learn creative ways to engage members and reform our union from the bottom up.” — Nichole Hartrick, Dearborn teacher
“I’m coming to the Troublemakers School because I want to make connections with other labor activists and organizers in the Metro Detroit area. This is a unique opportunity for me to get out of my usual circle and figure out how we can work together across unions and industries.” — Zach Rioux, Bikeshare worker
“I’m taking the ‘Creative Collective Action in the Workplace’ workshop because I want to more effectively undermine my boss.” — Zee Martin, online organizer
“I am going to the upcoming Detroit Troublemakers School because I want to bring the energy from #striketober back to my local. My coworkers and I are struggling through some of the worst working conditions in recent memory and we need to transform our union into a fighting force for our and our students’ safety. I’m excited to skill up in the ‘Beating Apathy’ workshop and looking forward to sharing my experiences organizing with MI CORE during the ‘How to Start a Caucus’ workshop.” — Gavin Buckley, Detroit teacher
“I’m hoping to learn some strategies to make our union come to life. Our job is a lot harder in a right-to-work state than it should be, and we need to recruit new members and give purpose to our existing members. One specific thing I want for us is to productively agitate the district to do something about the segregation in our district!” — Erin Tabor, Grosse Pointe teacher
“Building a better world is going to require us to work together like never before. Troublemakers School will prepare us for the fights ahead.” — Chris Viola, GM worker
Register here and join your fellow troublemakers November 20. Happy hour follows.
The Detroit Socialist is produced and run by members of Detroit DSA’s Newspaper Collective. Interested in becoming a member of Detroit DSA? Go to dsausa.org/join to become a member. Send a copy of the dues receipt to: membership@metrodetroitdsa.com in order to get plugged in to our activities! Detroit DSA’s Labor Working Group meets biweekly on Tuesdays at 5PM.
